Advertiser’s responsibility to respect social sensitivities

An advertiser is required to produce advertisements to market and promote the products of the company they work for. The advertising medium can be print, electronic or the most current medium, social networks. However, it is not easy to advertise any product or service and there is a great responsibility to follow a series of guidelines and requirements that apply to the entire advertising industry.

It is the responsibility of each advertiser to ensure that the ads they produce are in line with marketing ethics and that viewers’ sentiments are taken into account during the brainstorming and production phases of the promotional video, print ad or social media. social. media campaign. Due attention must be paid to social sensitivities to avoid backlash from the masses after the launch of the campaign.

There are a number of social issues that tend to arouse strong feelings if portrayed incorrectly. These include issues relating to social, cultural or racial discrimination, gender bias, as well as issues relating to physical and mental health. The scope of social sensitivities also covers issues of censorship and explicit content. The responsibility of a marketer is to avoid attracting negative comments from ad viewers by respecting the unspoken boundaries of all the social sensitivities mentioned above.

Social, cultural or racial discrimination refers to highlighting differences between social classes, or different cultures and races, also inappropriately. It is the advertiser’s responsibility to ensure that the work they produce together with their team promotes equality and does not promote differences that exist in society but are not healthy. Making a social class, culture or race seem more preferred or important compared to others can hurt people’s feelings and also make social situations worse, as it can generate a lot of debate and possibly provoke widespread protests from the masses. Naturally, such a situation will damage the reputation of the company that created such an advertisement.

It is important that advertisers are aware of their responsibility to minimize gender bias. If they cannot contribute to reducing the perceived precedence that boys / men have over girls / women in patriarchal societies, they should at least not allow themselves to make such notions seem like acceptable norms that do not need to be changed, but rather. encouraged.

When it comes to issues relating to physical and mental health, it is the responsibility of an advertiser to spread awareness of such problems and avoid portraying people with health problems as socially inept. They can highlight the challenges disabled people face in a positive way and show scenarios that give them confidence, but advertisers must respect the feelings of people with mental or physical disabilities, refraining from showing contempt or insensitivity towards their plight.

The most important responsibility of an advertiser is to ensure that the ads produced by him and his team are not immoral or indecent in any way. The clothes that the models wear, as well as their behavior and choice of words, must respect local norms regarding decency. Any explicit content should be discreetly censored so that the meaning of the ad is not vague.

If an advertiser is aware of each of the aforementioned aspects, they would be fulfilling their responsibility to be an ethical advertiser. Taking full responsibility for respecting social sensitivities will ensure that the advertiser produces quality campaigns. This, in turn, will create a positive image for the ad agency and its clients, which is the primary goal of an advertiser.